Football giants

Chapter 392 The Terrible Falcao

Diego Simeone clenched his fists and looked at the green field ahead.

At the exit of the player tunnel, players from both teams lined up, sandwiching the referee team in the middle.

There are not many surprises in the main lineup of Atletico Madrid.

The goalkeeper is Asenjo, the defense is Felipe, Miranda, Godin and Juanfran, and the midfielder is Gabi and Suarez. In order to cope with Southampton's strong midfielder, Simeone didn't even play Thiago.

The frontcourt attack combination is Turan, Diego, Adrian, and the single striker is Falcao.

This is also Atletico Madrid's strongest combination this season.

Relying on this lineup, Atletico Madrid made it all the way to the Europa League final!

Compared with Atletico Madrid's starting lineup, Southampton's lineup has undergone great adjustments and changes from the FA Cup final against Liverpool.

The goalkeeper is Neuer, the defense is David Alaba, Harvey Martinez, Varane and Carvajal, the midfielder is a combination of Strowman, Toni Kroos and Vidal, and the front trident is Neymar, Ibrahimovic and James Rodriguez.

Among them, the most surprising is the starting of Toni Kroos.

When the on-site commentator of the National Stadium read the name of Toni Cross on the stadium broadcast, the entire National Stadium was in an uproar, and everyone was taken aback.

Didn't it mean that Toni Kroos was injured and ended the season early?

Why are you playing again now?

Could it be that all the previous rumors were smoke bombs deliberately released by Southampton?
But no matter what, the game is about to start, and all thoughts are superfluous.

Simeone looked away from the court, lowered his head, and walked back to the coach's bench.

Along the way, with his head down, he muttered to himself, as if praying, praying that his team would have better luck tonight.

…………

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"Friends in the audience, this is the scene of the Europa League final from the [-] to [-] season!"

"Located at the National Stadium in Bucharest, the capital of Romania, my name is Charlene Lahiri!"

"I'm Gary Lineker!"

"The game is about to start, Gary, what do you think of this game?"

Gary Lineker's voice came to mind quickly.

"This will be a contest between the spear and the shield, but the coach Simeone is often very good at making surprises. However, the coach Bielsa is also very bold. It seems that before the game, no one expected that Toni Kroos would actually start!"

Charlene Lahiri quickly took over the words, "This is really unexpected!"

In fact, she already knew that this was Southampton's smoke bomb, and she even knew more inside information.

But before the game, she couldn't say these things.

"Atletico Madrid is a very tenacious team with a tough style, just like when their coach Simeone played. Therefore, Bielsa used Toni Kroos. I guess one thing is to play control."

"But it will also cause some problems, because Atletico Madrid is a La Liga team after all, and their skills are not too bad. Although Southampton's control is good, it may not be able to control the scene."

"Another point is that Toni Kroos' defense has always been a problem. When he meets Atletico Madrid with a tenacious style, whether he can hold the scene is also a suspense."

Charlene Lahiri chuckled, "I believe that Bielsa must have thought about our doubts, but he still chose Toni Kroos. There must be his reasons."

"Yes, so it depends on whether the effect can be achieved!"

Charlene Lahiri immediately changed the subject as the camera turned.

"We saw that both sides have guessed the side now, and Southampton took the lead in getting the right to serve."

From the live TV footage, it can be seen that Southampton, wearing the visiting team jersey, is ready to go.

The most important decisive battle of this season is already imminent.

When the camera fell on the referee on duty, Charlene Lahiri gave an explanation immediately.

"This is the international referee from Germany, Wolfgang Stark."

"Yes, Neuer and Toni Kroos were chatting with him just now, obviously they know each other!" Lineker laughed.

"If Simeone is replaced by Mourinho, I'm afraid there will be another dispute after the game!"

Charlene Lahiri also smiled, "Who says no?"

While they were talking, the referee blew the whistle to start the game.

When Zlatan Ibrahimovic kicked the ball to Neymar, Atletico Madrid's players immediately rushed forward.

Good guy, that momentum immediately made Neymar turn around quickly and kick the ball behind him.

When the ball fell to Harvey Martinez's feet, Atletico Madrid's Falcao and Adrian had already rushed to the midfielder area and rushed directly to Harvey Martinez.

No way, Harvey Martinez immediately passed the ball to the right and gave it to Varane.

As soon as the French central defender stopped the ball, Atletico Madrid immediately turned their guns and rushed towards the Frenchman.

Varane again split the ball to the right and gave it to Carvajal.

The Spanish right-back goes forward and passes to James Rodriguez.

The Colombian tried to give the ball to Ibrahimovic, but Godin had already taken precautions, preempted a header and cleared the ball.

But the ball didn't fall far, and Vidal rushed up, with another header, and pushed the ball back.

But Miranda quickly cleared with a header again.

This time, the ball fell far.

Varane rushed up quickly, stopped the ball and passed it to Toni Kroos.

But when Toni Kroos tried to pass to Strowman again, the ball was cut off.

"The pace of the game between the two sides was very fast, and they went straight to the point from the very beginning!"

"It can be seen that Atletico Madrid is not to be outdone, and they pressed hard after the opening!"

"Let's take a look at Atletico Madrid's attack this time, pass to the left, pass to Turan, cross, and fall into the penalty area!"

"Neuer rushed out of the penalty area, grabbed the ball out of the air before Falcao!"

"It's so beautiful, Neuer!"

Lineker also laughed when he saw it, "It can be seen that Neuer is in very good condition!"

"Yeah, very active and brave from the beginning!"

Lineker hummed.

Southampton took a goal kick, but during this period, Atletico Madrid grabbed it fiercely, and the ball soon fell to Atletico Madrid's feet again.

"Look, that's it!" Lineker had a headache.

"The Atlético Madrid team doesn't play skills with you or other tricks with you. He just grabs you and grabs desperately. This is a very troublesome tactic. The same is true of Dortmund's Klopp."

"However, what is different from Klopp is that Simeone has played in Serie A for many years in professional leagues and has a deep understanding of the Italian defensive system, so his football is more rigorous and his defense is more layered."

"Belsa also admires this kind of high defense and pressing. This game will be very intense!"

The game also seemed to prove Lineker's judgment.

The two sides played very fiercely from the beginning. Atletico Madrid and Southampton both refused to concede an inch and launched a crazy press. The ball was changed very quickly and the rhythm was also very fast.

The whole area around the middle circle has almost turned into an arena for both sides, and the killing is overwhelming.

But just when everyone thought the scene would fall into a stalemate, suddenly, a player from Atletico Madrid successfully intercepted the ball near the center circle, and the ball fell to Diego's feet.

At this moment, Diego is unguarded and facing the attacking direction.

I saw that the Brazilian midfielder did not hesitate at all. As soon as he saw Falcao's running, it was a long-distance through ball.

Diego gave the ball very comfortably, almost just right.

Before Falcao rushed into the Southampton penalty area, he received the ball and took advantage of the trend to enter the penalty area.

Harvey Martinez stuck to Falcao every step of the way, not daring to relax in the slightest.

Once in the penalty area, Harvey Martinez stood between Falcao and the goal. Varane also returned to the penalty area, but instead of going forward to block it, he helped defend behind Harvey Martinez.

But seeing Falcao skillfully dribbling the ball, he suddenly dunked the ball behind him quickly, and his body quickly adjusted.

The ball rolled to the left, and Javi Martinez immediately realized the danger and yelled, "Oops!"

Falcao has successfully pulled out of the gap, facing the ball with his left foot, almost without adjusting it, just a rubbing shot with his left foot, the ball is fast and fierce, crossing an inconspicuous arc, going straight to the left side of the goal.

The entire National Stadium was stunned!
No one thought that the first shot of the game turned out to be Atletico Madrid!

The fans of the Sheets Legion were even more excited and cheered, as if they had seen the goal in their eyes!

But just when the violently spinning ball was trying to hit the goal line, a pair of hands suddenly stretched out, and a big slap abruptly blocked the gap between the ball and the goal.

The ball touched the hand, turned in one direction, and went out of the baseline!

In the National Stadium, there was clearly a call for survival after the catastrophe, and many people breathed a sigh of relief.

The angle of the goal is too tricky, and the shot is so clever!

Neuer got up from the ground, still looking at the ball that went out of the baseline with lingering fear.

Fortunately, he was well prepared, otherwise, the ball would be a sure thing.

Who would have thought that Falcao would be able to shoot such a tricky shot under such circumstances, and it was so accurate!

terrible!

It's really terrible!

Falcao looked at Neuer with a wry smile.

He originally thought he had it, but unexpectedly, the goalkeeper actually realized it. It's not easy!

"Sorry!" Harvey Martinez turned around and looked at Neuer apologetically.

"Be careful, he can finish this high-quality shot with both feet!" Neuer raised his hand with an expression of no concern, but he did not forget to remind him.

This pair of feet will be the most troublesome!
Toni Kroos just ran to the front of the penalty area at this time, and he felt very mixed.

Just now he didn't block Diego at the first time, which gave the Brazilian a chance to pass the ball calmly.

If this goal really breaks the goal, then he is the team's number one culprit!
Thinking of this, Toni Cross felt very uncomfortable.

If it were Matic, the ball would definitely not be passed so easily!
Toni Kroos felt a rush of pressure at the thought of Matic.

Pressure from competitors!
Therefore, he quickly regained his morale and began to prepare for Atletico Madrid's corner kick.

And Bielsa on the sidelines shouted.

He signaled Toni Cross to pay attention, don't miss out on Diego, and asked Strowman and Vidal to pay more attention to protecting Toni Cross.

The German has a very heavy task in this game. Whether he can win Atletico Madrid depends on him!
After being yelled at by the head coach, Toni Kroos calmed down instead.

At this time, don't worry, just calm down!
Only by being calm can you kill your opponent, and it's over if you're in a hurry!

As the core of the team's midfield, if he is in a hurry, the team will be in chaos!

I have to say that Toni Kroos' psychological quality is really quite good.

He quickly got out of the shadow of his mistake and looked at Diego, his eyes seemed to say, come on!

At this time, the corner kick came!

(End of this chapter)